Our Love's Protection
by Jewel1001
Summary: Jaden and Jesse's young daughter is diagnosed with a life threatening illness. Devastated, what will they do to save their daughter's life? Rated M for mature themes later. Warning: Mentions of MPreg.
1. Prologue

Hazeru - Please note that this fic will deal with some sad, serious issues.

Hera - Please don't be offended by any of the issues in this fic.

Hazeru - It's a bit different from dealing with incidents like rape or abuse that I've read it other fics.

Hera - But it deals with an issue which Hazeru has experience with a family member.

Hazeru - Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Prologue

Terrible Discovery

The bruise on her shoulder is the size of a medium-sized coin. Jaden discovers the bruise when he is giving Isabella her evening bath. He sluices water off her small body, continuing his conversation with his husband.

"Yubel said we'd be okay" he says confidently. "She said the portal would close by itself if nothing tried to go through it, and Shepherd issued a warning."

"It's not our problem anyway, Jaden" the bluenette standing in the doorway says. "We won't be here for much longer." There is sadness in his voice.

"I know, I know" the brunette mutters.

Jaden peers at the bruise on his three year old's shoulder.

"Does it hurt?" he asks.

The brown haired child shakes her head, and her 'mother' nods.

"Everything's sorted for the house, by the way" Jesse says out of the blue. "As soon as we're off Academy Island, we can start over again there. It's a nice neighbourhood, too. A good place to bring up kids."

"Kid" Jaden corrects.

Jesse nods and tries not to remember his lover's pregnancy. Males can't get pregnant, but because of Yubel's strange powers, Jaden can. Except that it isn't healthy for him. Jaden had been very sick when he was carrying Isabella and the childbirth had nearly killed him. It was only thanks to the power of Yubel that he survived at all, and Jesse knows he will be eternally grateful to the duel spirit for that, and for even giving Jaden that special ability - it meant they got a beautiful daughter of their own. Isabella Andersen is their whole world, but they had agreed to be careful with their sex lives after she was born. They had her, and that was enough. They don't want to risk Jaden's life by having any more.

Jaden lifts the small girl out of the bath and hands her over to her father, who wraps her in a towel and begins to dry her off. Jaden smiles at his husband and daughter. He is used to the language of marriage, lacing romance in amongst baths and feedings and stories before bed.

The two lovers dress Isabella in her pink pyjamas and tuck their daughter into her bed. Jesse strokes her soft brunette spikes and Jaden reads her a fairytale. Eventually, the young girl slumbers peacefully, and the two smile at her warmly before leaving her to sleep.

It is a bright morning the next day, and Jaden wakes up late. He looks at his alarm clock and realises that it is broken - but also that it is two and a half hours after he is usually awake. Jesse left for work, as usual, at four in the morning. It is unusual for Jaden to be asleep now. It is even more unusual that his daughter hasn't come in to wake him up yet.

The brunette rolls out of bed and walks out of the room, into his daughter's bedroom. She is still asleep, cuddled under the blankets. The mere sight of his slumbering child brings a smile to his face as he draws back the duvet and lifts her out of bed. Isabella rubs her eyes sleepily in a cute way - and Jaden knows that he does exactly the same thing when he first wakes up. With a promise of pancakes for breakfast, the brunette lifts the pyjama top over the girl's head, and turns her around in preparation to pull her onto his lap.

Except that he freezes, because this is the moment Jaden sees his daughter's back.

Trailing her spine, like a trail of sapphire gems, is a trial of bruises.

"She's been tired lately, but not sick or anything" Jaden tells the doctor.

He is seated in the doctor's office at the local hospital, his daughter on his lap. The brunette called Jesse before he left the house, and now he waits for his husband to come. The doctor has questioned him on every little detail of his daughter's life, before she was born and every moment after.

"She was healthy all through the pregnancy" Jaden says.

"I thought you said you were ill."

"_I _was ill, the baby was perfectly healthy!"

"Ah, I see."

The doctor writes down a few words.

"Anything her father can tell me that you can't?"

"I doubt it" Jesse says, suddenly coming into the room, worried. "I work while Jaden stays home with Izzy. He spends more time with her."

Izzy. The nickname for their daughter.

"Well, from what you've told me, we're going to run some tests. From what we've already done, her white cell count is lower than it should be."

"White cell count?" Jaden asks, puzzled.

Neither he nor Jesse has much medical knowledge.

The doctor assures them that the tests will all go as they should and takes Isabella into another room, leaving the worried parents to deal with whatever worries they have whilst they wait.

It is bad news. Jaden knows that the minute he and Jesse sit down opposite the doctor, who looks grave. The doctor tells them many things, most of which Jaden doesn't understand, but he does understand what the doctor says next all too well.

"Isabella has Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. AML."

Both the boys freeze as the doctor's words sink in.

"Leukaemia?" Jesse whispers.

"It's a form of blood cancer" the doctor says, confirming their fears. "It's a common form of leukaemia but your daughter's case seems pretty severe. We're going to start treatment right away, but it will work only if she responds well to it."

Jaden falls against his husband, who barely has the strength to hold him up, as they both look at their sunny faced child on Jesse's lap. She is beautiful and full of live.

But the truth sinks into them.

She has cancer.

Their daughter is dying.

Hazeru - I hope you enjoyed, I will try to update soon.

Hera - R&R please.


	2. Chapter 1  Knowing

Hazeru - Here's another chapter, sorry it took so long to update.

Hera - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 1

Knowing

Jaden collapses onto the couch the minute he enters the house, his shoulders slumped and his eyes staring straight ahead, unfocused. Jesse stands in front of him, their three year old on his hip. The brunette is still coming to terms with what the doctor told them less than an hour ago. Nobody, not even Isabella, spoke on the journey home.

The child's treatment for the sickness starts in exactly two weeks, when she will undergo a few scans to make sure the cancer hasn't materialised into a tumour anywhere in her body and be given an injection to increase her white blood cell count, and also so the doctor can explain more about the AML to her parents.

Jesse, with a soft sigh, sets Isabella down on the ground. The brunette child stares up at her mother expectantly. Jaden is the happy-go-lucky of her two parents usually, even if he did sometimes drift into his own world. The three year old was told he was daydreaming. In truth, he was talking to Yubel in his mind. But he wouldn't tell her that when she was so young, when she wouldn't understand.

But now Jaden doesn't even look at her, and the child grows worried.

"Mommy?" she asks, and he doesn't respond. "Mommy? Okay?"

"Mommy's fine" Jesse says quietly, kneeling down so he can be almost at eye level with the girl - he is still slightly taller. "Mommy isn't feeling very well just now, Izzy, so you have to stay in your room and play like a good girl. Right?"

"Okay" the girl nods.

For a three year old, Isabella is clever.

"Mommy, get better" she cheers as she runs from the room, blissfully unaware of what has happened, of what is going on inside her own body.

Now that she is gone, the two can talk.

Jesse sits down beside the brunette and wraps one arm around him. Only at this contact does Jaden respond at last, and he leans into his husband.

"Why?" the brunette whispers, his voice emotionless. "Why did this happen to us?"

"Jay, it's gonna be okay. It's …"

"It's _not _going to be okay! Don't tell me she's gonna be fine because she's _not_!" the brunette snaps, feeling the despair bubbling up and pouring out of him as rage. "You heard that fucking doctor! She's got _cancer_, Jesse! She's … she …"

Jaden stands up and walks quickly from the room.

Jesse stays where he is, knowing the brunette well enough not to follow him. Jaden has been shaken to the core and his emotions are getting the better of him. Eventually, the bluenette will be needed to comfort him. But for now, it is better to let him go. Jaden never did like to let people see him cry.

The brunette sits on the edge of the bathtub, his eyes clenched shut in an attempt to stop the flow of his tears. He hates crying. It's never been something he did unless he had to, and certainly not since he became one with his guardian.

Even during his pregnancy, when he was near death at some points. Even during the unnatural childbirth, that had lasted until he had been able to get a c-section, not being able to physically give birth. He hadn't cried. Screams or moans of pain, yes. Crying, no.

The brunette very rarely breaks down like this. But when he does, he does it in private.

Eventually, once he has stopped crying and is ready to face his husband, Jaden leaves the bathroom and goes into the living room. Jesse is still there. It looks like he hasn't budged an inch since the brunette left.

Jaden sits down next to the bluenette, who doesn't even acknowledge him. With a soft sigh, Jaden leans against the bluenette, knowing that Jesse will bring him into an embrace automatically.

Jesse's arms wrap around him, hold him tightly. Jaden leans into his husband and closes his eyes. He won't talk yet.

After all, what is there to say?

After a few minutes in uncomfortable silence, Jaden decides to break it.

"I'm sorry" he says softly. "She _is _going to be okay."

"Leukaemia" Jesse whispers.

They both know that this is going to become a word they both hate with a burning passion, the thing that is going to rival them for their daughter's life.

"I'm not going to let her die, Jesse" the brunette whispers.

Jesse looks at the brunette, who holds his gaze, determination in his brown eyes.

"What can we do?" he whispers.

"Fight" the brunette says strongly. "I'll fight for her, Jesse. I am not going to let her die. No way."

"Jaden, you can't protect her from what's inside her!"

"I can" the brunette argues. "I won't let her die."

Jesse stares at his determined brunette, who has now closed his eyes, his expression pained. Jesse wonders briefly if Yubel knows about this, if she can help in any way. But his attention is focused on Jaden.

Without opening his eyes, Jaden speaks clearly, his determination showing.

"I'll save her."

The bluenette lets a small smile creep onto his face. Jaden always saved everyone. It seems impossible - but Jaden has done the impossible. Jesse brings his hand up to touch the boys face gently, and Jaden opens his eyes.

"You know something, Jay?" Jesse whispers, tracing the brunette's cheek bones gently with his fingers. "I think you will."

Hazeru - This is really hard to write. It's sad!

Hera - We hope to update more frequently, but she's doing more research on AML to make sure she gets it right.

Hazeru - And I'm hoping to include Yubel next chapter.

Hera - R&R please


	3. Chapter 2  Coping With The Truth

Hazeru - Sorry for the wait. Here's another chapter.

Hera - Including Yubel, as promised.

Hazeru - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 2

Coping With The Truth

Two days have passed since Isabella was diagnosed with leukaemia. Since that moment she has not been left alone for even a few minutes, except when she is asleep at night. Even then, her mother checks on her often, barely sleeping himself. That, in and of itself, is not normal for Jaden.

Jesse stays with his daughter except for the times he is at work, and even then, he worries about her. Every parent has worries for their child, it's true, but he has never worried half as much. He's always been confident that, as long as Jaden was with her, Isabella was perfectly safe. After all, what could get past Jaden?

Jaden doesn't like leaving her. He keeps waiting for something to happen, for her to let out a cry of pain or start bleeding - but nothing has happened. Two days have stretched into two lifetimes, and he is as weary as if he had truly lived through a lifetime or two. He hasn't slept very well since the diagnosis, and he knows that he really should sleep.

Jesse is beginning to worry about him as well as Izzy, and worrying other people has never been a favourite pastime of Jaden's. He lies down at night and tries to sleep but he can't. His mind is always filled with worries about the daughter who is suffering and doesn't even know it yet - with something that, deep down, Jaden knows he can't cure. Cancer isn't like a duelling opponent, or an awkward friend, or even the Light Of Destruction. In many ways it is smaller than the last one. But to Jaden, it has suddenly taken over his life.

Jaden, at the moment, is sitting on the living room couch, eyes half open as he watches his daughter playing with an electronic game on the floor. It's an infant's game, designed to help a child learn the rules of Duel Monsters, and it was Chazz that bought it for her, long ago. They are still at Duel Academy, and it is getting hard to stay there. Jaden wants to leave. Simply, so he can be nearer to a hospital.

Never, not once, when he was having the baby did he want to move to a hospital. Now, he wants nothing more than to be near to the people - the doctors, nurses, the skilled medics - who have the highest chance to help his daughter.

In his mind, his guardian starts talking to him, and Jaden instantly feels guilty. He hasn't talked to Yubel properly since the diagnosis, and that hurts his heart. He greets Yubel, using their special mind connection, one of their significant links.

_Hello, Yubel._

**How are you doing?**

_Not so great. There's no change in Izzy …_

Yubel may not be exactly approving of Jaden's marriage to the bluenette Crystal Beast duellist, but she knows his heart. And she has never wanted anything more than to be with Jaden and see to it that he is happy. If being with Jesse makes him so happy, then she will stand behind him through it.

And if something makes Jaden unhappy, Yubel will become unhappy herself and want to fix it. It's her duty, and she is glad of it.

**Do you want a change?**

_No! But I … it'll happen, Yubel._

**Not immediately.**

_She has bruises on her back. It will happen soon._

_Jaden, calm down, _Yubel says soothingly.

Jaden stops 'talking' and tries to calm himself down. He keeps getting worked up any time Jesse tries to talk to him about Izzy's condition. Now he's doing it with Yubel, too.

Suddenly, Yubel materialises into a spirit form beside the brunette. She can not leave his body, technically, but she can show herself as a spirit form.

Jaden closes his eyes. The presence of his guardian is somehow calming, although his worries are far from gone.

Jaden feels the fingers - clawed but somehow still gentle - running through his hair. He lies down, knowing that this is what Yubel wants. He feels her hand lie on his chest and it almost tingles. There is no actual touch, she is a spirit, but he can somehow almost feel it - he has always assumed it is a result of their fusion that he can feel her spirit's touch.

And there are added perks that come with that.

Yubel runs her hand over Jaden's chest, leaving a pleasurable feeling in its wake. Jaden sighs softly at the feel, relaxing a little. She has always been able to make him feel like this. It isn't the same sort of pleasure that he gets from intercourse with Jesse, but it's just as good. It isn't physical completely as much as mental. It doesn't leave him breathless anywhere but in his mind, giving him a tired feeling.

He knows that the tired feeling is what Yubel aims to achieve in him, so that he will fall asleep and get some rest. And he doesn't try to stop her.

Jesse is out - at work or around the island, Jaden can't remember - but it's okay. He won't be awake to watch Isabella, but he knows that she'll be okay. Yubel will wake him if something bad happens to her, concerning her recently diagnosed illness. And the child, it has already been discovered, can see spirits. Although she has no idea who or what Yubel is, she has seen the spirit before. And Yubel will make sure that no harm comes to Isabella, Jaden already knows. He trusts Yubel with his daughter completely.

And so he allows Yubel to help him get to sleep, knowing that it is much needed.

Hazeru - Just to clear it up, they are basically adults but still on the island. They have to leave to go to a proper hospital.

Hera - Hence why Jaden wants to leave now.

Hazeru - I wanted to include Yubel to show that she and Jaden do have a significantly close bond.

Hera - It'll show up more later in the story.

Hazeru - Hope to update soon.

Hera - R&R please


	4. Chapter 3  Promises

Hazeru - Hi, guys. Okay, so this story is _really_ due an update.

Hera - We're so sorry for the long wait.

Hazeru - Hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 3

Promises

"So, what do you think, Jay? Everything look good?"

The brunette nods once, still staring out the window of the living room - soon to be the front room in his new home.

Jaden and Jesse have decided that, for the good of their daughter's health, it will be a wise move and better for them all to move off the island as soon as possible and into their new home. It is a medium sized house in a proper city, closer to Jesse's work - working with duelling cards, naturally - and more importantly, far nearer to a professional hospital.

Jaden wonders if they are doing the right thing, leaving so suddenly - the doctor did tell them that it would most likely be some time before the danger in their daughter's body materialised into something which was demand immediate hospitalisation …

But there can be no taking chances; this is their daughter's life, his own child's life.

So when Jesse had vaguely suggested moving away from Academy Island sooner, Jaden hadn't even thought about it before he had agreed.

Today is the day when they take one final look around the place and decide which room to put which furniture in before they move in for real.

Jesse stands now in the kitchen, trying - with minor difficultly - to work their new cooker, which seems to have a somewhat unpredictable oven. Oh well, he'll get it eventually.

Jaden stands in the front room, gazing out the window at the peaceful scenery of the opposite house with a perfect garden. In his arms, his daughter lies sleeping, the gentle weight of Isabella's head cradled in the crook of his neck and her legs dangling against his waist. Jaden finds that there is always some comfort in physically holding Isabella; he can kid himself that he can protect her from everything.

His daughter's chest rises and falls with each inhale and exhale of breath, so natural and normal and seemingly healthy that Jaden allows himself, just for one blissful moment, to wonder if it has all been a dream.

And then he comes back to reality and tells his foolish mind not to tempt fate - Isabella can afford no chances, no risks.

Jaden is so lost in his own thoughts - his own mingling with Yubel's, much to his comfort - that he does not even notice his husband come up behind him until there is a hand on his shoulder, and Jaden turns around instinctively at the sudden warm contact. He isn't even aware that he reflexively holds Isabella tighter. Jesse does notice, and he sighs softly.

Although Jaden has always been the one to stay at home with Isabella - except when Jaden is needed to perform his duties as Supreme King - he has never been the 'motherly' type. He teaches Isabella about duelling, about spirits, about trust and loyalty; he treats her like his friend as well as his daughter.

So it is very strange to see him turn his head at every move Isabella makes, to watch him stare sadly at their child with his heart in his eyes. It is out of character for Jaden, this anxiety and fear, and Jesse wonders just how much of his willpower Jaden is using to keep his anger and frustration at bay.

"Do you want to spend the night at a hotel or go back to Duel Academy?" Jesse murmurs, not wanting to wake their sleeping daughter.

"We'll go back to the island" Jaden answers immediately. "I want to say goodbye to … people."

Jesse nods understandingly. Duel Academy has, for so many years, been Jaden's beloved him, and it will be very difficult for him to just leave. But there is no alternative. They have stayed there too long as it is, using their duelling skills as an excuse, staying where their school is although they are adults and haven't attended school for years, although they are married and have an unnatural but precious child together.

"We'd best head back, then" Jaden says suddenly, pulling away from Jesse and walking out the front door, leaving the saddened duellist to follow the two people most important to him in the world.

/

"Mommy?"

The soft voice of their daughter has the couple instantly awake and alert, shooting up in bed to stare with wide eyes at the figure of their daughter, who stands in the doorway, rubbing one eye sleepily. Not so long ago, they would have frowned and asked her what she is doing up at three in the morning. Now, Jesse is out of bed and scooping Isabella into his arms while Jaden fumbles around with the blankets to wrap around the child's shoulders at the same time he turns on the bedside lamp.

Only when the child is cradled in her father's lap does Jaden cup the child's face with his hands and ask her what's wrong.

And at first, the girl is so confused that she does not answer. All she wanted to ask was if she could sleep in their bed tonight; she has had a bad dream. Isabella is clever for such a little girl, but she does not understand what makes her parents act like this, when they never have before.

"Sweetheart? Is something hurting?"

Hurting? She hasn't fallen, how can she be hurting? She doesn't even have a tummy ache or anything …

"Mommy, bad dream" Isabella says quietly.

There is no answer for a second, because both her parents are sighing in relief and trying to calm their rapidly beating hearts.

A bad dream. A nightmare. That is all it is - just a normal, nightly problem for children her age.

Isabella's big eyes meet her mother's and she whispers, "sleep with you and daddy?"

Wordlessly, Jaden nods, and he turns off the bedside light again as the small family curls up in the bed. Jesse lies to the right, Jaden to the left, with their daughter sandwiched between them, their hands linked over her delicate hipbone.

The darkness is soothing to them all - even Isabella, who fears nothing when she is with her parents like this - and soon Isabella and Jesse are sound asleep.

Jaden, though, can not manage to make himself go back to the oh-so-peaceful world of slumber he was previously enjoying.

For he has realised something about himself, and about Jesse, and he doesn't like it at all.

When Isabella came into their room, neither of them thought that she might have had a nightmare or wet the bed, or done any of the things that children do. Instead, both their thoughts instantly went to her sickness, her affliction.

And Jaden makes himself another promise, to go along with the one to keep her alive.

He will keep Isabella alive, of course. But he will not let the leukaemia rule her life. His daughter might be sick, but she as a person will not be defined as 'a sick child'.

Jaden will save her, physically and emotionally, even if it kills him.

Because he already knows that he will give his life for her.

Hazeru - This chapter was partly just meant to show that Isabella isn't just a sick kid, she's a normal kid too.

Hera - Hope it went okay. Please R&R. No flames.


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